Australian soldiers honor their dead at the memorial with Ataturk’s statue in Gallipoli in the west of Türkiye.
Photo: AFP/Mustafa Ozer
The Dardanelles were the bridge as a bridge from Europe to Asia Minor and the Bosphorus as a connection between the Agäische and Black Sea, which has lost none of its exceptional military importance since Troia until the current time of geopolitical or world history. With the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, they once again moved to the center of the world events because the power interests of the Middle Powers, enclosed Turkey, and the Entente (especially England, France and Russia) met.
In September 1914, Turkey blocked the passage through the oceans. The connections between Russia and its western allies were thus interrupted and his influence on the Balkans was contained. Turkey itself guaranteed the closure of the western access to Constantinople’s safety with the war -important companies.
Germany, whose close ally was Turkey, had his own interest in the fact that this limited operating room remained firmly in the hands of the Turkish partner. Under the direction of General Liman von Sanders, a German military mission was therefore sent to Turkey, which initially included 44 officers. They joined the Turkish army to help from the inside with the reorganization and modernization of the Turkish armed forces.
This is not a song of praise for war, but the warning not to forget its horrors – especially now in western Europe.
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The driving force of the structure of the structure and logistics of the Turkish army was the efficient and assistant war minister Enver Pascha. The head of the artistic director Ismail Hakki Pascha proved to be further outstanding military leadership, who was characterized by his strategic sharp view and his tireless work performance. At the request of Turkey, two German naval units were relocated to the Marmara Sea before the meetings in the west. Both were incorporated into the Turkish fleet under the names “Sultan Selim Jawus” or “Midilli”.
Winston Churchill’s plans, the first lord of English admirality, to attack the Turkish fortifications from sea, all failed in February/March 1915. Her initiator then had to resign, for him a profound, long after -effect offset.
A landing surgery of great style had now become a compelling necessity. On April 25, a superiority of New Zealand, Australian, English, French and Indian troops ended up on the southern tip of the 70 -kilometer long peninsula Gallipoli. On the poorly prepared Turkish side, 60,000 men faced them, which Enver Pascha had brought together with a lot of organizational talent. The command of this army was in German hands.
The invaders took the coastal room and started the fight for Gallipoli, but hardly made any progress because the positions of the Turkish opponent were on a ridge. The allies, which are quite promising, were sent and rejected, with Mustafa Kemal Bey (Ataturk) particularly distinguished. The struggle – a huge material battle – finally sacked the peninsula in a patient situation in a murderous trench.
On August 21, the Allies tried one last time to win the military upper hand and failed. The evacuation started in November dragged on by January 9, 2016 when the last units of the Entente Gallipoli left.
The August fights were a furious triumph of the Turkish weapons, despite the victim of 40,000 men, and they are a fame in Turkish history. They made a decisive contribution to finding the Turkish nation identity. Full of propaganda pride, the country today looks at this event, on its own military self-assertion, on the Turkish-German weapon brothers and the knowledge of showing itself to the world’s best armies at the time.
In retrospect, it is said: “Prunerated, plagued by the vermin, unprotected against sunburn, sandstorm, rain and cold, the Turk stood day and night, rarely replaced from the front line – and yet he did his duty.” This is not a praise for war, but the warning – especially now in western Europe – this is not to be forgotten.
The battle for Gallipoli was one of the bloodiest and most brutal in the First World War. In view of the approximately 100,000 deaths, New Zealand and Australia are reminiscent of Gallipoli on April 25, the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli, the compatriots who had fallen there and wounded with a national day of commemoration. Gallipoli was a shock for this two states due to the high number of victims. It was the greatest conflict until then in which these two British Dominions had been involved.
Winston Churchill felt the shame of defeat for a lifetime and permanently had a deep resentment on the Germans, who in his opinion had contributed to the Turkish success in the struggle for the Dardanelles and to his fall as Minister of navy.